“He sent it where?”

The woman shifted and ducked her head, clearly uncomfortable. “To 555 Drury Lane, sir. That’s where -”

“Where the Muffin Man lives, I know.” The man rubbed his face and sighed. “Are you sure?”

She nodded. “I contacted our agent placed at the local police station. He checked with a friend at the post office, and within our time frame, that was the first address Kim Jongdae sent a letter to.”

He growled and slammed his glass down hard enough for the drink to slosh onto the desk. “Goddamn it all to hell.”

Startled, the woman flinched. She had never known Big Boss to hurt any of his own before; really, she’d never seen him yell or lose control before. But in this line of business, everyone had secrets, and she wouldn’t be surprised if Big Boss, with his sharp eyes and sleek muscles, was far more dangerous than he’d ever let on.

Big Boss’ eye twitched for a second, but his cool mask snapped back in place a moment later.

“Either this Kim Jongdae knows exactly how important these documents are and is playing games to protect them, or else he’s a complete blockhead,” he said. Stirring his drink, he watched the ice cubes crack against the glass as he spoke. “Investigate both options, and find out where the Muffin Man letter ended up. Don’t come back until you have answers.”

With a bow and a meek “yes, sir,” the woman turned and fled the study, both relieved to have escaped alive and terrified of his last words.

---

Two hours of munching later, Yoojung shut her camera off, belly full and heart a little lighter.

Money wasn’t what kept her in the mukbang business, although it certainly did help. Rather, broadcasting was a stress reliever. But it was a temporary fix, as she was starting to realize, and now that the camera was off and her viewers were gone, the loneliness and terror swept back over her stronger than ever.

Where is Chaeyoung right now? Is she safe? Well fed? Rested? Yoojung wondered. Actually, never mind; she’s never well rested, kidnapped or not. Working so hard is going to kill her one day.

She froze, instantly regretting that last thought.

Nope. Nope. She’s not dead. Not dead. She can’t be dead. Don’t think horrible, morbid thoughts like that, Yoojung. She’s going to be just fine. The police are doing everything they can to find her.

Her mind flashed immediately to Officer Park and his dopey smile. So maybe that’s not the most comforting thought in the world. But it wasn't like she had any other options than waiting for the police, really - she was just a civilian with no connections to the outside world. Neither was she one of those vigilantes in TV dramas with hacker friends and in-law PIs, nor was she a brave rebel, ready to take on the world by herself. The only people she knew, aside from her sister, were strings of letters and numbers on her computer screen, and Yoojung, at the end of the day, was a coward, plain and simple.

In her self-created pit of loneliness, cowardice, and self-pity, she was stuck with no foreseeable end to her misery. It was pathetic how useless she was, she thought to herself. So instead of bothering to feign normalcy and tidy up after herself, she made a hot cup of tea, wallowed in a pit of salty tears, and dragged herself to bed.

---

At two in the morning, the sound of the doorbell ringing shook Yoojung from her sleep. Pulling a clingy Baekbaek off her body with a groan, she stumbled out of bed and down the hallway. Upon reaching the door, she hesitated, hand on the doorknob.

“Who is it?”

A cough. “It’s Officer Do and Officer Park from the police station, ma’am. Sorry to bother you so late at night, but… We may have a lead on your sister’s case.”

Yoojung opened the door so fast, she nearly clubbed herself in the face with it. “What?”

“It’s a very tentative lead,” Officer Do rushed to say, seeing the eager look on her face, “but we received another missing persons report late last night regarding the brother of your sister’s employer. He disappeared without any signs of struggle, and he was apparently involved in an argument with your sister the day before she disappeared.”

“So he did it?” Eyes wide, Yoojung stared at the officers. “Do you know where he is? Are you going to pick him up now? Did you get an arrest warrant?”

“Whoa, there.” Officer Park held up a hand, chuckling uneasily. “It’s really in the early stages. This is just more of a hunch, you see.”

“A hunch?”

Clearing his throat, Officer Do shot his colleague a glare. “We’re still trying to understand the exact connection between your sister and the suspect, Kim Jongdae. We need… I’m sorry, but this may be a rather lengthy conversation. Is it alright if we come in?”

“Oh. Sure.” Yoojung held the door open and stepped aside, rubbing at her eyes, when a flash of white streaked past her. “Baekbaek, no!”

To her dismay, the puppy had already lunged at Officer Park, clamping down on his pant leg and slobbering all over it.

“Aw, cute!” The police officer’s omnipresent grin widened as he bent down and rubbed Baekbaek’s ears. “His name is Baekbaek? He’s so adorable!”

“He’s annoying,” Yoojung muttered under her breath. “Never stops yapping, little brat.”

As if he knew Yoojung was talking about him, Baekbaek turned and stared up at her pathetically, all wide-eyed and whimpering. She crinkled her nose at him.

“That’s right. I said you’re a brat.” She sneered, but in her heart, she didn't really mean it. Honestly, Baekbaek was obnoxious, but he was also the closest thing Yoojung had to family now Chaeyoung was gone.

“Ms. Im?” Officer Do raised an eyebrow.

“Ah. Right. Please, come in. Sit anywhere you’d like.” She waved a hand at the living room. “Anything to drink?”

“Do you have any apple juice?” Officer Park looked up hopefully from where he was playing with Baekbaek. “Or orange juice?”

The officer in charge of this case is actually a five-year-old, Yoojung sighed internally. There’s no hope.

“Ignore him, he doesn’t need anything,” Officer Do interrupted, shooting his colleague a glare that went completely unnoticed in favor of Baekbaek begging for a belly rub. “We’re very sorry to disturb you this late at night, Ms. Im. We’ll try to finish up this discussion as quickly as possible.”

He was being so polite that Yoojung almost forgot how rude and altogether strange he had been the last time they spoke. Almost.

“What did you want to know?” she asked, eyeing him carefully. “I told you last time, I don’t really know anything about my sister’s workplace relationships.”

“We just want to know if your sister mentioned any arguments from work with you. Or perhaps they weren’t even full-blown arguments, but just things that annoyed her. Anything like that?”

Yoojung bit her lip and thought back. “She was more stressed than usual the last couple of weeks,” she admitted, “but I don’t know why. I learned not to ask.”

Officer Do’s eyebrows furrowed. “This does make for a difficult situation. I spoke to Kim Jongdae’s brother, who also happens to be your sister’s employer, and he refused to tell us anything about what the argument between Chaeyoung and Jongdae may have been about. I’m starting to think you’re all hiding something here.” The accusing tone in his voice was emerging again, and Yoojung didn’t like it one bit. What the hell was he insinuating about her? As if she would ever do anything to harm her sister.

“Look here,” she said, frowning. “You’re in my house at two in the morning, asking me